Until We Are Desperate, There Will Be No Revival
From the Cluttered Desk...September 10, 2006...Volume 51, Edition 37
EARLIER THIS YEAR, I did something I rarely do as a pastor - I preached two consecutive Bible Conferences. One was in Oklahoma and the other in Tennessee. While the meetings were different, there was a common denominator between the two churches - a hunger for God to move and speak in the heart of the pastor.
EVERY WEEK I receive several pieces of mail from groups trying to convince me their conference will make me a better communicator, help me to raise money, give me the tools to double attendance in six weeks or teach me how to be hip (but not necessarily holy). We’ve got the practical side covered. My question is, where’s the desperation for God? Where’s the hunger for God? This is the reason I am committed to ReFRESH at Sherwood and in the Smokies. I want to go somewhere where they encourage me to get a hold of God. I’m sick of business as usual. I’m tired of average. I want to see a movement of God.
ONE UKRAINIAN PASTOR recently said, “It seems American pastors are more concerned about church growth than knowing God.” He’s right on target. If I want to be hip, there’s a conference planned by a big-named preacher who says he’s got it all together with a gimmick each week to wow the crowd. Since he can’t preach the Word of God purely and simply, he resorts to tricks and magic acts.
IF I WANT TO BE HOLY, I can’t find a conference no matter how deep I go in my Google search. If I want to have godly character, the options for a seminar or conference on the subject are few. One reason I enjoy The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove is because it’s the closest thing I’ve found for spiritual renewal and refreshment. The problem is, it’s expensive for the average pastor of a small church.
WE ARE in a battle zone, but our promotions imply the church is a playground. We’re told we all need to be more high tech, but where’s the high-touch conference? Who is teaching God’s leaders and His people to go to “the least of these?” The Mega Church (at least in our convention) is largely white, white collar and a white-washed tomb. I’m not against the Mega Church; we are one. But the key is not size, it’s sort. So what if thousands come on Sunday morning but they aren’t living for Jesus during the week?
WE DON’T NEED more programs; we need more power. We don’t need more machinery; we need a movement of God. THIS CAN’T BE ALL THERE IS! Surely Jesus died and the Spirit came to give us a church better than the one we have. Surely there’s more power than what we are experiencing.
WHERE ARE the conferences that teach us how to disciple and develop believers into mature saints who understand doctrine? That’s too deep for today’s pragmatic, shallow, cotton candy culture. I like a little cotton candy, but a steady diet will rot your teeth and destroy your health.
I’M JUST WONDERING how the church survived these past 2,000 years without a huckster on every corner to show us his new way. They say we don’t need to be preachers, but communicators. Communicators of what? They say we don’t need to be shepherds, but CEO’s. If you look and listen, you would conclude that nothing of eternal significance happened before these guys showed up. Hip is in; holy is out. Personal stories are in; Scripture is out. A cool book I just read (or better yet, my latest best seller) is in; the Bible is out.
SOME CHURCHES are starting to “franchise” themselves - live music and a video of our pastor. We are no longer called to seek the Lord for His will in a local church. Now we just download, upload and copy what our franchise pastor tells us to do. After all, if it works in Dallas, it will surely work in Picayune, Mississippi.
PASTORS NO LONGER have to get with God to get a sermon. They can find all the sermons and illustrations they need online with the click of a mouse. We no longer dig and research the text, we now search the internet for a sermon by our favorite preacher on a passage that popped into our heads. Where are the giants for God? We may have big churches, but in the eyes of God, are they great churches?
TODAY if you have a crowd, you are an expert. The Word might be used as a proof-text, but where’s the clear teaching of the Word? We’ve lost the art of exegesis. Many believers have never heard a verse-by-verse series from the Bible. We’re going backward, not forward. I remember Ron Dunn talking about reading G. Campbell Morgan’s books and realizing what was missing in his ministry was expository preaching. I’d put Ron Dunn’s preaching up against any “communicator” today. They would look like pygmies compared to that giant of a preacher.
IT WOULD HELP our watered-down, Americanized, cultural Christianity to have a little depth. It would help a shallow church to learn a little doctrine and wade into some deep water. But then, a preacher can’t take people where he hasn’t been.
I FEEL LIKE one crying in the wilderness. I know I’m going against the grain. I know if I did a few things differently, we could probably have a bigger crowd. But, if I have to resort to gimmicks and a watered-down, feel-good, “don’t confront me with sin” gospel, I’d just as soon be a shoe salesman.
I’M LONGING FOR people who will pray for Holy Spirit power. I’m asking God to give me a greater hunger for Him than I’ve ever had. I want a fresh wind and a fresh fire in my bones. I need a touch from the Master. I need to know that it can be better, deeper and sweeter than what I’m seeing. I’m desperate. I’m weary of begging people to do what they know they should be doing. I’m looking for a remnant that will pray for me, pray for the church and pray until God breaks through in Holy Spirit power. When He does, we’ll have revival because we’ll have Jesus who is, in fact, revival.
The Friar
